Abstract
Long considered to be heretical, ancient Gnostic Christian texts unearthed this century display compelling similarities between Gnostic conceptions of life and death and modern NDEs. The Gnostic texts devoted extensive tracts to what readers could expect to encounter when they died. Other passages make numerous allusions to NDE-like experiences that can be realized in this life, most notably the human encounter with a Divine Light. The Gnostic Christian literature gives us one more example of NDEs and similar experiences in the ancient world.
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Bain, B.A. Near Death Experiences and Gnostic Christianity: Parallels in Antiquity. Journal of Near-Death Studies 17, 205–209 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021328511886
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021328511886